RS

MEMBER DIARY

State Agency Has Paid Planned Parenthood $3 Million Since 2008 Despite Lack of Regulation

The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE) has claimed to have no relationship with Planned Parenthood of the Rocky Mountains (PPRM), but Media Trackers Colorado has discovered over 500 pages of receipts from the CDPHE to PPRM, totaling $3,118,486.14 since 2008.

Despite this lack of regulatory oversight, CDPHE has disbursed roughly $500,000 a year to PPRM for screenings and other medical procedures for select Medicaid patients, in addition to other reimbursements.

Most of the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment’s receipts linked to PPRM show federal grant money being funneled into the state to cover patients for services provided at PPRM.

In the wake of a lawsuit filed against PPRM by Ayanna Byer, a resident of Colorado Springs who alleges she suffered through a botched abortion at a Planned Parenthood facility, it seems fair to question why CDPHE has paid state and federal tax dollars to a medical center that is not required to abide by Colorado’s health and medical board standards.

CDPHE’s receipts reveal a yearly contract with PPRM for screenings since fiscal year 2008. While the state agency’s Warrant Log Report states the money since 2008 comes from federal grants, it does not address why a state department has records connecting them to PPRM in the first place.

The Colorado Constitution specifically forbids public funding of abortion, but the Transparency Online Project confirms that four state departments have contributed to PPRM since 2009. It has recently been brought to Colorado taxpayers’ attention that despite a lack of state health standards for Planned Parenthood clinics in the state, the state has provided over $10 million in public funding to the national abortion provider.